1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate treatment apparatus which treats a substrate. Examples of the substrate to be treated include semiconductor wafers, substrates for liquid crystal display devices, substrates for plasma display devices, substrates for FED (Field Emission Display) devices, substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, substrates for magneto-optical disks and substrates for photo masks.
2. Description of Related Art
In a production process for a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display device or the like, a substrate treatment apparatus is used for treating a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for the liquid crystal display device. A substrate treatment apparatus of a single substrate treatment type adapted to treat a single substrate at a time includes, for example, a spin chuck which horizontally holds and rotates a substrate, and a treatment liquid nozzle which supplies a treatment liquid onto an upper surface of the substrate held by the spin chuck. The spin chuck and the treatment liquid nozzle are provided in a treatment chamber defined by a partition wall.
For the treatment of the substrate, the substrate treatment apparatus, for example, continuously spouts the treatment liquid from the treatment liquid nozzle toward a center portion of the upper surface of the substrate while causing the spin chuck to rotate the substrate. The treatment liquid spouted from the treatment liquid nozzle is applied onto the center portion of the upper surface of the substrate, and receives a centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the substrate to instantaneously spread toward a peripheral portion of the upper surface of the substrate. Thus, the treatment liquid is supplied over the entire upper surface of the substrate, whereby the upper surface of the substrate is treated with the treatment liquid. After the treatment with the treatment liquid, the substrate is rotated at a higher speed by the spin chuck. Thus, a drying operation (spin-drying operation) is performed to dry the substrate by spinning off the treatment liquid from the substrate by a centrifugal force (see, for example, JP-A-2006-351805).
During the treatment with the treatment liquid or during the drying process, however, foreign matter such as particles is liable to fall onto the upper surface of the substrate. Therefore, the foreign matter is likely to adhere to the upper surface of the substrate to contaminate the substrate. Further, the mist of the treatment liquid drifting in the treatment chamber is likely to adhere to the upper surface of the substrate to contaminate the substrate.